THE MUD CHUCK BOBS

The Mud Chuck Bobs features Samm Bennett on vocals and percussion (a kind of vintage drum kit) and Yoshiki Sakurai (from Lonesome Strings) on guitar. The band is aiming to pick up where the Ghost Steppers left off, with a focus on Americana roots music, but with an eye toward the future, an eye toward the improvisational musical moment. The band serves up a slew of tunes from the deep musical bedrock of Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and thereabouts, from musical forebears like Emry Arthur, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Geeshie Wiley, Clarence "Tom" Ashley, Tommy Johnson, the Carter Family and more, but with a heapin' helping of good ol' down home improvisation. Yes, improvisation, friends: unplanned, spur-of-the-moment picking and grinning, like grandpa used to do more of than you even know. Anything can happen, cause the Mud Chuck Bobs ain't gonna chain themselves down like they're some kinda roadside crew, workin' a mile and a quarter a day for some shotgun-totin' law man in mirrored shades, ya'unnerstand? Damn right! Folks, y'all ain't heard nuthin' quite like this.

If your tastes run toward, say, Mr. John Fahey and some of the creative ways that he interpreted American folk music, you'll like this band. Those of you who love and appreciate basic roots Americana will like this band, as long as you're a little bit adventurous and don't just want to hear museum-piece reproductions of old-time tunes. And hey, those of you *not* so familiar with American roots music or John Fahey or an improvisational approach or... whatever, you may very well enjoy this band, too. Yup! Almost anyone will enjoy this band, except for those people who really like Billy Joel and/or Celine Dion. They will probably not care for it all that much.